Every state requires children to attend school, but no two states agree on exactly when that requirement starts or ends. The end age in particular varies from 16 to 19, and it decides something concrete: the age at which a struggling teenager can walk out of school without breaking any law.
Here is how the states line up, drawn from the Education Commission of the States' review of state statutes. Ages are the years during which attendance is compulsory.
States where attendance ends at 16
| State | Compulsory ages | State | Compulsory ages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 7 to 16 | Massachusetts | 6 to 16 |
| Arizona | 6 to 16 | Montana | 7 to 16 |
| Delaware | 5 to 16 | New Jersey | 6 to 16 |
| Florida | 6 to 16 | New York | 6 to 16 |
| Georgia | 6 to 16 | North Carolina | 7 to 16 |
| Idaho | 7 to 16 | North Dakota | 7 to 16 |
| Iowa | 6 to 16 | Vermont | 6 to 16 |
| Wyoming | 7 to 16 |
Fifteen states stop at 16, and they are a mixed group: large ones like Florida, Georgia, and New York alongside rural Plains and Mountain states. Several of these also allow an earlier exit on finishing a set grade, for instance Arizona on completing 10th grade and Montana on completing 8th. New York lets its largest cities extend the requirement to 17 by local rule.
States where attendance ends at 17
| State | Compulsory ages | State | Compulsory ages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 6 to 17 | Mississippi | 6 to 17 |
| Colorado | 6 to 17 | Missouri | 7 to 17 |
| Illinois | 6 to 17 | Pennsylvania | 8 to 17 |
| Maine | 7 to 17 | South Carolina | 5 to 17 |
| Minnesota | 7 to 17 | West Virginia | 6 to 17 |
States where attendance ends at 18 or later
| State | Compulsory ages | State | Compulsory ages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 5 to 18 | New Hampshire | 6 to 18 |
| California | 6 to 18 | New Mexico | 5 to 18 |
| Connecticut | 5 to 18 | Ohio | 6 to 18 |
| District of Columbia | 5 to 18 | Oklahoma | 5 to 18 |
| Hawaii | 5 to 18 | Oregon | 6 to 18 |
| Indiana | 7 to 18 | Rhode Island | 5 to 18 |
| Kansas | 7 to 18 | South Dakota | 6 to 18 |
| Kentucky | 6 to 18 | Tennessee | 6 to 18 |
| Louisiana | 7 to 18 | Utah | 6 to 18 |
| Maryland | 5 to 18 | Virginia | 5 to 18 |
| Michigan | 6 to 18 | Washington | 8 to 18 |
| Nebraska | 6 to 18 | Wisconsin | 6 to 18 |
| Nevada | 7 to 18 | Texas | 6 to 19 |
This is now the largest group, 25 states plus the District of Columbia, and it has been growing. Maryland, Rhode Island, and others moved to 18 over the past two decades, and Texas went to 19, the highest end age in the country. States extend the requirement, and almost none shorten it. The stated reason is dropout prevention, and the research behind it is real, with each additional year of high school associated with meaningfully higher lifetime earnings.
The start age matters less than it looks
A start age of 7 or 8 does not mean children in Pennsylvania or Washington begin school at 8; nearly all start kindergarten at 5, because every state offers it free well before attendance becomes mandatory. What the higher start age does is give families legal room to delay, which is what makes redshirting a summer-born kindergartner lawful in most of the country. The state-by-state cutoffs for starting kindergarten are a separate set of rules, laid out in our guide to kindergarten cutoff dates by state, and the way ages map to grades is in what grade is my child in.
Exemptions
Compulsory attendance laws come with exits. Common ones include completing graduation requirements at any age, enrolling in an approved alternative such as homeschooling or a career program, a physical or mental condition that prevents attendance, and, in a number of states, employment or a parent's written permission. Several states end the requirement on completing a certain grade regardless of age, and a few let a student leave at 16 to enter a GED program.
The most important point is what the end age does not mean. Reaching 16 in Florida or 18 in California is the moment the law stops requiring a student to show up. It is not the moment they earn a diploma. A student who leaves at the legal minimum leaves without one unless they finish another way, and graduation requirements, which we lay out in high school graduation requirements by state, are a separate and stricter bar. The end age is a floor under attendance, not a finish line, and the students most likely to hit that floor are the ones a school has already been losing for years, which is why we spend so much time on what actually helps chronically absent students.
Data note: ages reflect the Education Commission of the States' 50-state review of compulsory attendance statutes. States periodically extend their requirements, so confirm the current rule with your state's education agency; ECS maintains a regularly updated comparison. Grade-completion, employment, and parental-consent exemptions vary by state and are summarized, not exhaustive.
Sources
Education Commission of the States: Age Requirements for Free and Compulsory Education, 50-State Review
Education Commission of the States: 50-State Comparison, Free and Compulsory School Age Requirements (2025)
